The present invention relates to an overpack drum which is used to store drums that contain leaking corroded waste products that are environmentally hazardous materials.
While plastic salvage drums for use in containing hazardous materials and as an overpacking of other drums containing hazardous materials are known in the art, such drum containers have in the past included lids that are threaded on to the main body of the container. Such a construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,258, issued to Bondico as assignee and invented by Morris D. Shaw et al. While this drum has the necessary characteristics for overpacking other drums containing hazardous materials, it has been found that the use of the threaded lid has made it very difficult to assemble as well as remove the lids, especially where they have been weathered and have expanded and contracted.
The Bondico patent confirms that drum-type containers of the type used in overpacking must be corrosion-resistant, should combine mechanical strength with light weight and must be sufficiently strong in all points of construction so as to provide a container for the hazardous materials without leaking. Also, the containers must be able to withstand rough handling as well as transportation handling. In the United States, an overpack container must be approved by the United States Department of Transportation, which requires the containers to undergo rigorous testing. Dot requires having a container that can withstand being dropped and generally filled with water from a specified height onto a concrete slab. The angle at which the container is dropped into the concrete slab is varied. Accordingly, the overpack drums must be extremely strong and well constructed. The present invention attempts to incorporate all these characteristics while obviating having a threaded lid which works on the basis of cam latches.